Automatic gas shut-off.



E. J. HINKSON.

AUTOMATIC GAS SHUT-OFF.

AEPLICATION FILED JULY22. 1914'.

1,173,966. Patented Feb. 29,1916.

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I ELMEB JNO. HINKSON, OF ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA.

.AUTOMATIC GAS SHUT-OFF.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELMER J. HINKSON, a citizen of the United 'States,residing at Erie, in the county otE-rie and State of have invented newand useful Improvements-in Automatic Gas Shut-Otis,

of which the following is a specification.

This 1nvent1on is an lmproved automatlc gas shutoff for use in a gasservice pipe to close the same in the event that gas pressure should bematerially reduced in the pipe and thereby avoid the danger resultingfrom material variations of gas pressure, ject of the invention being toprovide an 1mproved device of this character including incombinationwith a gas duct or service pipe a normally open cutofi' valvetherefor, a valve servmg'as a clrcuit closure normally.

open and held so by gas pressure and adapted. to close uponadlscontmuance of such pressure, normally lnactlve electrically operatedmeans to close the cutoff valve, a nor- A mally open electric circuit inwhich said electrically operated means is includedand circuit closingmeans operated by' the valve serving as a circuitclosure when-the lattercloses, as hereinafter described'and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings :Figure 1 is an elevation of an automaticgas-cut ofi' apparatus constructed in accordance with my invention, thecasing for the same being indicated in section. Fig. 2 is a verticalcen-' tral sectional view of the same. Figs. 3 and 4 are detail views.

For the purposes of this specification a gas service pipe is indicatedat 1.

In accordance with my invention I provide an aluminum cutofi valve 2which is ar- I i ranged in said pipe and which is normally is mounted inbearings 6 and is provided at.

open, but which may be moved so as to cut ofi' fiow of gasthrou gh thepipe. I also provide a valve 3 provided with circuit closing means, saidvalve being arranged in the service pipe and co-acting'with a seat4.This valve is held open by the pressure'ofgas in the direction indicatedby the arrow in Fig. land is-providedwith a pivot rod 5 which one endwith an arm 7'which carries an electric contact point 8. The valve 3although normally held open by gas pressure is adapted, upondiscontinuance of gas pressure or a dangerous diminution thereof toclose by its own gravity against the seat 4 and therebyraise the arm 7.

A. frame 9 of suitable construction is atthe ob- 19 operates.

Specification of Letters Patent. P t t Feb 29,191 Application filed. my22, 1914. Serial No. 852,517.

tached to the service pipe and is here shown as arranged in a suitablecasing 10. This casing has a door 11. The core 12 of a sole- IlOlCl isarranged vertically and depends from the upper side of the frame at asuit- 7 able distance from the pipe11' and is prov1ded with an arm 13which-has an electric contactpoint 14 adapted toscoact with the manuallyraised and the coil is further provided, at its lower .end, with a stud19. The cutoff valve is here shown as a plug valveand is provided withan arm 20 at one side which is provided with. a contact point or device21. A rod 22 is vertically arranged, has its lower end pivota-llyconnected as at 23 to the valve arm 20 andis provided near its upper endwith aslot 24 in which the stud Aconducting bar25 is arrangedon asupport '26 and has a binding post 27. The

frame 9 has an opening 28' throughwhich .extends a dog 29 the same beingpivotally mounted as at30and its inner end being adapted to engage underthe shoulder 17 so as to support the coil of the solenoid nor- 'mally inelevated position. At the outer end of the dog is a counterbalancingweight 31.

Its inner end, which normallv supports the coil of the solenoid.normally rests on a contact point 32 which is connected by a conductor33 to onepole 34 of an electric battery 35. The other pole 36 of thebatterv is connected bv a conductor 37 to the binding post 27 and saidbinding post is also connected by a conductor 38 to the contact pointormember 8. One end of the winding of the solenoid-coil is connected by aconductorv 39 to the contact point 14. The other end of the winding isconnected by a conductor 40 to the conducting bar or strip 16. Anelectric audible alarm is con.-

nected by a conductor 42 to the contact point 21 and by a conductor 43to the pole 34 of the battery. Normally the electric circuit is brokenbetween points 814 and points 21-25, the valve 2 being held open bvthecoil 15 which latter is held in elevated position by the dog and thecontrolling valve 3 is held in open position.

This causes the contact point 8 t0, come in electric contact With thepoint 14 and thereupon an electric current Will pass iromlthe pole 36 ofthe battery throughi the conductors 37-and 38, points 8+14E, conductors39, the Winding of the coil 15, theconductor 4E0; conducting f bar onstrip 16 and" through the dog, point 32 and conductor 33 to; cause theshoulder, 17' to, clear thefpoint ofthe dog, thereupon the Weight 31 ofthe dog raises its. point-and'releases thesame from the shoulder17,1thereby breaking the electric circuit between the conductor 16and'the contact point 32 and permitting the coil todrop. V The Weight ofthe coil is thus imposed upon the arm 20 throughthe rod 22 and said armis caused. to close the cutoff valve, thus positively preventing flow ofgas through the pipe 1. (The-contact point 21 of the arm 20 is broughtinto contact with the conducting bar 25 thus establishing anelectriccurrent from the pole 36' of the battery,

through conductors 37 and 25 and 42, the signal lI and back to the pole34: of the battery and through the conductor 43 thus causing the signalto sound an alarm. ,The

flow of gas. through the pipe cannot be re- 7 established until'afterthe device has-been made in "the form, proportion and construction ofthe several parts Without departing from the spirit of theinvention andWithin the scope: of-the appended claim.

1 Having thus described lmy invention; claim 5 back toqthe pole=34= ofthe battery. Hence thecoil becomes energized and moves upv'vardly'on'the; core-12 1a suflicient distance:

In combi ation Witha d illcut 70H.

have it understood tha'tchanges may be to be normally in contact Withthe solenoid;

a circuit closing means connected ith said duct and operable upon. thediminution of the pressure of the gas therein to close said circuit,thereby venergizing the solenoid to release the same from said dog, anarm connected With said cut off valve, and a link terminally connectedWith said arm and solenoid, Wherebyvvhen saidsolenoid is released' fromthe dog the cut off; valve is drawn to a closed'position.

In testimony whereof Ialfix my signature in presence of" tWo. Witnesses.

ELMER ,JNo- INKso i Witnesses: p 1 1 DANIEL O. HOPKINS, WM. J HINKSON.

I Copies of this trade-mark be obtained five'eents each, byaddressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

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